Booze ordinance near schools may be on the rocks
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

The Chesterfield Planning Commission would like the county board to eliminate an ordinance that prohibits the sale of alcohol within 500 feet of schools built after 1993.

A clear majority of the Chesterfield Planning Commission believes the Board of Supervisors should scrap an ordinance that prohibits the sale of alcohol within 500 feet of schools built after 1993. The commission asked Chairman Jack Wilson to contact the board to see if the supervisors really want to resolve the issue.

"The assumption is that the board is going to trash the ordinance anyway," said one commissioner.

Uniformly, the members believe the ordinance should apply to all schools or none at all. Currently, all schools built before 1993 are exempted. Eight schools - Beulah, Clover Hill, Enon and Hopkins elementary schools; Manchester and Midlothian middle schools; and Clover Hill and Matoaca high schools - have businesses within 500 feet that sell beer, wine and/or mixed drinks. Those businesses include restaurants, convenience stores, drug stores and grocery stores.

"It's not fair unless it is applied to all schools," declared Dale Planning Commissioner Sherman Litton. "We should tell the board what we think, and let them deal with it."

Earlier this year, the county board approved a special use permit for Dellwood Plantation to serve alcohol even though it is adjacent to Matoaca High School, which was built after 1993. Some commissioners seemed to think that opened the door to future exceptions.

At the request of the commission, the police department investigated and concluded there is no relationship between selling alcohol and crime for those affected schools.

"Have we really identified that there is a demonstrated harm?" asked Midlothian Planning Commissioner Dan Gecker. "Is there any evidence that an adult who was drinking within 500 feet of a school has harmed a child?"

"This [ordinance] is not about underage drinking," added Clover Hill Planning Commissioner Russ Gulley, who was on the commission when the ordinance first surfaced. "It's about adults buying alcohol [nearby] and going to a school."

Another problem with the ordinance is that a business could allow someone to rent its facilities, get an ABC license and still be within the legal limits. That option was discussed during the Dellwood case.

The ordinance was put in place when Caddy's restaurant in Midlothian, located across the street from Midlothian Middle, expanded in 1993. But by grandfathering existing schools from enforcement, the impact of the ordinance was watered down.